Foremost Professor of Political Science, Bolaji Akinyemi, has asked President Bola Tinubu to avoid confrontation with the newly sworn-in 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump.

“If I were President Tinubu, I would try to steer clear of antagonising him because there is nothing a bully likes better than taking on people who are not strong enough to resist him,” Akinyemi said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Monday.

“You know there is that African proverb that if you are not strong enough to take on a bully and you take him on, you are just even going to suffer more for it.

“That’s the advice I will give President Tinubu: try and avoid having a confrontation with him even if that means that he does things that annoy or does things that step on the interests of Nigeria. There are ways in which you could address his reaction without confrontation.”

Prof Akinyemi, a former Director General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), faulted the inaugural speech of Trump as uninspiring, “shocking and depressing”.

The octogenarian said rather than rallying the world for peace, Trump took time to threaten the rest of the world with a bouquet of hostile policies including tacking back Panama Canal, renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, tariff wars, and others.

Akinyemi said the US president would “soon learn that there are repercussions to policies, to jingoism”, adding that the world is “in for a rough ride for four years” of the Trump presidency.

The former Nigerian Minister of External Affairs said Nigeria is out of the focus on the 78-year-old most powerful president and that Africa’s most populous nation should not expect anything extraordinary from the Trump presidency.

Trump was sworn in as president on Monday, succeeding Joe Biden, four years after an electoral defeat that truncated his second-term ambition.

Trump, 78, was a political outsider at his first inauguration in 2017 as the 45th president, but this time around he is surrounded by America’s wealthy and powerful.

The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon chief Jeff Bezos and Google CEO Sundar Pichai all had prime seats in the Capitol alongside Trump’s family and cabinet members.

While Trump refused to attend Joe Biden’s 2021 inauguration after falsely claiming electoral fraud by the Democrat, this time Biden has been keen to restore the sense of tradition.

Biden joined former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton at the Capitol. Former first ladies Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush were there but ex-first lady Michelle Obama pointedly stayed away.

Some northern lawmakers in the House of Representatives have indicated that the Nigeria Governors Forum’s (NGF) endorsement of the revised Value-Added Tax (VAT) sharing formula in the proposed tax bills may be subject to amendments by federal lawmakers before passage.

In 2024, President Bola Tinubu submitted four tax bills to the National Assembly, following recommendations from the Presidential Taskforce on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms led by Taiwo Oyedele. The proposed bills include the Nigeria Tax Bill 2024, the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill.

The bills have sparked diverse opinions, with northern leaders opposing the VAT provisions. On October 29, the Northern Governors Forum opposed the proposed tax amendment bills. Two days later, the National Economic Council advised Tinubu to withdraw the bills for broader consultations.

While the bills saw some success in the Senate, they faced stiff opposition in the House of Representatives, with over 70 northern lawmakers blocking debate on the general principles of the bills. Critics, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Governors Bala Mohammed and Babagana Zulum, argued that the reforms could harm the northern economy, particularly the VAT derivation component.

Last week, the President achieved a breakthrough at a meeting between the NGF and the Oyedele-led committee. The 36 governors proposed that VAT revenue be shared 50% based on equality, 30% on derivation, and 20% based on population.

Speaking to journalists, Sada Soli, representing Jibia/Kaita Federal Constituency, expressed the House’s readiness to support the governors but noted that the bills might face amendments during debates. He emphasized the need for thorough scrutiny to correct fundamental drafting errors.

Joshua Gana, a PDP lawmaker from Niger State, confirmed that the northern caucus had not met over the bills, as the House is mourning the recent death of Deputy Whip Hon Adewunmi Onanuga. He added that caucuses are free to deliberate until the House reconvenes on January 28, 2025.

Terseer Ugbor, representing Kwande/Ushongo Federal Constituency, echoed Gana’s position, indicating that the northern caucus has yet to take a firm stand on the governors’ support for the bills.

Meanwhile, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) is studying the tax reform proposals and plans to provide specific recommendations within 48 hours. ACF National Publicity Secretary Prof Tukur Muhammad-Buba stated that the forum is generally satisfied with the equity, population, and derivation considerations in the proposals.

The Registrar General of the Corporate Affairs Commission, Hussaini Ishaq Magaji has revealed that only 100,000 Point of Sale (POS) operators have officially registered their businesses with the commission as part of its POS formalization project.

Magaji said this during the in-house enforcement and compliance training for state offices on Monday in Abuja,

Magaji said that the training,  with the themed “Re-engineering the Commission for Compliance and Enforcement Mandates” would ensure efficient management of corporate entities.

He called for a paradigm shift in the commission’s operations, emphasising the importance of compliance and enforcement functions beyond the routine registration of businesses.

“One of the key priorities I identified upon assuming duty in 2023, was the need to bring the commission’s regulatory and management functions to the forefront.

“This led to the inclusion of compliance enforcement as a key component of my four-point agenda,” he said.

The registrar-general said that advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) could handle routine operational tasks like business registration, freeing resources for more complex compliance and enforcement activities.

He reiterated the success of the PoS Formalisation Project, which had registered about 100,000 Point-of-Sale operators under the requirements of Section 863 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020.

According to him, the project aims to formalise at least 250,000 operators in the sector as part of broader efforts to regulate the estimated 40 million micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria.

“Formalisation is the first step for legitimate business operations and access to government interventions.

” It also mitigates the risks associated with unregistered businesses, such as money laundering and terrorism financing,” Magaji said.

He revealed plans to implement sanctions for operators who fail to comply with formalisation requirements and clarified that multiple registrations across fintech platforms were unnecessary, as one registration sufficed

Beyond pre-incorporation activities, the registrar-general stressed the need to prioritise post-incorporation compliance, which he described as a sustainable revenue stream for modern registries.

He also unveiled plans to address issues like shell companies, opaque ownership structures, and proper disclosure of persons with significant control, in line with global standards and the Persons with Significant Control Regulations.

“This training will position our staff to undertake compliance enforcement and inspection duties with confidence.

” It also marks the start of our drive towards a hyper post-incorporation compliance mode.

“The training includes technical sessions on statutory books, records, returns, and filings for registered entities, with input from resource persons from law enforcement agencies to share practical experiences, “he said.

He urged participants to engage actively and embrace the reforms as part of efforts to align the commission’s operations with global best practices.

Representing the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, its Deputy Commander on Narcotics, Harami Wakirwa, said that  the initiative demonstrated CAC’s commitment to promoting compliance, integrity and accountability.

“This is a good step in the right direction. I wish you all a productive and engaging experience.

” Let us work together to foster a culture of compliance and make a positive impact in our industries and countries,” he said.

Also, DCP Usman Ahmed, Deputy Director, Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Center (NPF-NCCC), acknowledged the crucial role compliance and enforcement played in safeguarding and fostering a secure regime for business operations.

“The challenges we face today, especially in cyber-attacks, demand that we continually adapt and improve our strategies and practices.

“This training is not just an opportunity to acquire knowledge, but should allow us to improve cybersecurity, inter-agency collaboration, and share the responsibility to restore confidence in public institutions.

“We must embrace this opportunity to re-engineer our operations and reinforce our ability to excel in cyber security. Together, we can make a significant impact,” he said.